By Andrew Benson
Motorsport editor |
 Can Jenson Button and BAR break their duck in Brazil? |
Jenson Button believes that his last chance to break his Formula One duck in 2004 will be one of his best at this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix. The Englishman, whose BAR team are poised to tie up second place in the championship, believes he will be competitive at Interlagos in Sao Paulo.
"It's a circuit where our car will perform very well, better than in Shanghai or Suzuka," Button said.
"This is probably our best chance of a win over the last few races."
To secure second place overall behind Ferrari, BAR need only to hope that rivals Renault do worse than take a win and third place.
Even then, BAR would have to fail to score points with either car.
Given Renault's declining form, as well as the strength of other teams like Ferrari, McLaren and Williams, that is as sure as anything can ever be in F1.
 Fisichella won for Jordan in Brazil last year |
But at a track that often throws up an incident-packed race - unbelievably, a Jordan won there as recently as last year - BAR will be taking nothing for granted at the final race of the season. They can expect tough opposition - particularly from McLaren, who now have consistently the second fastest car behind Ferrari, and Williams, whose form has taken an upturn since the return from injury of Ralf Schumacher.
But standing most obviously in the way of a Button win are the all-powerful Ferrari team, beyond whom it is difficult to look for a potential winner.
Michael Schumacher will be looking for yet another win to add to the 13 he has already scored in another breathtaking, record-breaking season.
And with a win last time out in Japan restoring his confidence following a comparatively barren patch, the German will be a strong as ever.
For once, though, the attention from outside will be focused elsewhere in the Ferrari garage - on Schumacher's team-mate Rubens Barrichello.
The Brazilian, who has won two of the last three races, adores his home country and is desperate to win at Interlagos, a track he lived practically next door to as a child. Barrichello is an emotional man, who still fondly remembers his boyish excitement as he watched the Ferraris through the fence at Interlagos when he was growing up in the 1970s.
His luck has been appalling at his home track in recent years, and never worse than when he ran out of fuel while leading last year.
So to win in his own Ferrari at the same track would be the high point of his career, and would doubtless prompt floods of tears from one of the most liked men in F1.
 Barrichello has had some dreadful luck on his home track |
It would also send the 100,000 or so Sao Paulo locals who turn up to cheer on their hero into paroxysms of delight. The Paulista fans make this one of the most colourful races of the year, in an edgy, atmospheric, steamy city.
They queue for hours on race morning, the line stretching more than a mile past the favelas down the hill outside the track.
And when they get in they cheer and dance with an enthusiasm that is matched only by the Italians.
The Interlagos they attend has changed a fair amount since Barrichello watched there as a boy.
In its first incarnation it was one of F1's greatest ever tracks, with its highlight a breathtaking, seemingly never-ending flat-out banked 180-degree first corner that only the very brave could master.
That stunning corner - the remains of which can still be seen around the outside of the more modern autodrome - started a sinuous, switchback five-mile lap.
These days, the track is about half that length, but it retains the long, long pit straight, the end of which provides one of the best overtaking spots in F1. The track still poses its challenges, too, not the least of which are the circuit's notorious bumps.
Built on swampland between two lakes, the track will never be entirely smooth, but this just adds an extra element that helps to create what is invariably one of the best races of the year.
MMIX
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